Katz creates campaign team for Queens borough president run

Melinda Katz, a former Assembly and Councilmember, said she has begun organizing a team to run next year for borough president.

She’s already held two political seats in Queens, and now Melinda Katz is eyeing a third.

Katz, who formerly served as assemblymember and councilmember, confirmed she would be running for borough president next year — throwing her hat into the ring with potentials like Councilmember Peter Vallone.

Katz said she was organizing a campaign team, and hoped to make a formal announcement sometime next week.

She cited her three years working in the borough president’s office as an inspiration for running.

“I know the job very well, and I was proud to serve there for the entire borough for three years,” she said.

A love of Queens and a history of holding public offices was important to her decision in running for the spot, Katz said, noting that she still lives in the Forest Hills home where she grew up.

“I’m bringing up my two boys in my old bedroom,” she said. “Queens has been my home, my family’s home, for generations.”

Katz left politics in 2009 to work at Greenberg Traurig, a law firm where she specializes in several fields including government affairs and zoning. In the assembly, she represented areas of central Queens and would go on to do the same on the council level.

Katz’s partner is radio personality and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, with whom she has two children.

Whoever wins the race will succeed incumbent Helen Marshall, who has overseen the borough for three terms. Vallone currently has the biggest war chest for the campaign, boasting that he has raised more than a $1 million for the run.